V 


TS 1025 


.11188 
Copy 1 


cGOMBER 




ON 


BOOTS AND SHOES 


AND THE 


HEALTH ANI) COMFORT THEY SHOULD IMPART. 


SHOWING WHAT KIND OF SHOES FIT. BEST, 
WIIAT KIND OF LEATHER * WEARS 
AND LOOKS BEST. 




V 


/ 


By JOEL McCOMBER, 




Inventor and Manufacturer of McCombkr’s Patent 
Boots and Shoes and Patent Lasts. 


v ' ( s . ■ , 

s-.- Of ' VtWG ^/- <o'J 


%x. y xs 


52 East 10th Street, New York. 

r is ?tj 


Entered, according to Act of Congress, in tlie year Is"8,by Jorl McCombkr, in 
the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. ^ 


1 Vv 




/ 


















DIED OF THIN SOLES. 


The above line might truthfully be engraved 
on thousands of tombstones. There is no ques¬ 
tion but that the terrible disease, consumption, 
which has swept from our Northern States so 
many valuable lives, has found a most potent 
ally in the mistaken methods of the shoemaker. 
Thin soles have been demanded, worn, and com¬ 
mended, because of the pain attendant upon 
breaking in heavy shoes, when constructed in 
the ordinary way, without reference to the anat¬ 
omy of the foot. But with shoes scientifically 
constructed, perfectly moulded to the feet, so that 
the interior space is accurately apportioned to 
the prominences and depressions of the delicate 
structure, the perfect adaptation maintaining, 
when in use, the relative positions of the sole and 
the upper wdien walking as well as when in re¬ 
pose — the process of breaking in is unknown. 
It is never a question of where the shoe pinches, 
because it does not pinch at all. This being the 
case, thick soles and thick shoes are just as easy 
to the feet as thin. There can be nothing uncom¬ 
fortable, because they fit—because there is no 
excessive pinching or cramping of any part, but 
perfect comfort in thick shoes from the first hour 



3 


of wearing them. The many painful and fatal 
diseases which come from exposure of the feet to 
snow, water, and cold pavements, and damp walks, 
and chilly draughts, are ended. The vessels of 
the lower extremities are not compressed, the feet 
are kept dry and warm, the blood circulates 
freely to and fro through them, and is perpetu¬ 
ally conveyed back to be warmed by the oxygen 
received into the lungs from the atmosphere. Com¬ 
fort for the feet, and health for the w’hole body 
are assured through, my boots and shoes of perfect 
material and scientific construction. 

-4+4- 

THE CORN DOCTOR DISMISSED, 

Corn doctors will live and thrive while igno¬ 
rant shoemakers exist. For persons provided 
-with boots and shoes by me they are entirely use¬ 
less. That they do manage by paring, and soak¬ 
ing, and plasters and lotions, to temporarily re¬ 
lieve the pain caused by the Chinese method of 
shoeing which shoemakers practice the world 
over, is true, but they never effect a cure. They 
will find abundant employment so long as shoe¬ 
makers practice their barbarities upon suffering 
humanity. They are the sharks that follow the 
misguided craft of shoemakerdom, and prey upon 
its victims. They have neither science nor skill, 
nor conscience. They extort enormous sums of 
money in vain efforts to palliate that w T hich would 
never exist were it not for the ignorance and 
inhumanity of shoemakers. With the increasing 




intelligence of the people, the demand will arise 
for the education of shoemakers and last makers. 
As they learn something of the anatomy and 
needs of the wonderful structure which they are 
called upon to clothe, the corn doctors will dis¬ 
appear because there will be no corns to doctor. 
All the distortions and painful protuberances of 
the feet are caused by unnatural and distorting 
foot clothing. Thousands of persons suffer from, 
and are expensively doctored for, what are called 
gouty and rheumatic disorders of the feet, w’hicli 
are induced solely by the fearful pressure of 
leather unscientifically applied. The thumb¬ 
screw of the Inquisition was not more absolute 
in its power to inflict pain, than are the miserable 
leather compresses, called boots and shoes. The 
absolute remedy for all the aches and pains and 
distortions of the feet, for the abnormal growths 
called corns, and bunions, and ingrowing nails, 
and gouty enlargements, and callosities, and 
painfully enlarged joints, is not the remedy of the 
com doctor, the cure is not an ointment, a lotion, 
nor a plaster. It is not palliative nor temporary; 
it is radical and permanent. It is not my cure, 
it is nature, for nature is ever kindly and helpful 
when permitted to exercise her benevolent pur¬ 
poses. Thus for all the ills which feet have 
been made heir to, I have described in a thousand 
ways in my books and pamphlets as well as ver¬ 
bally to the multitude who call upon me. It is 
simply to give nature a chance. The method 


5 


employed is mine, the same which I have prac¬ 
ticed for ten years, for which letters patent were 
issued to me, and which I alone of all the shoe¬ 
makers in the world apply. Nature’s method 
has never failed, and never can. That it ruins the 
corn doctor’s trade is clear to all my patrons, as 
well as to physicians who investigate the facts. So 
evident is it even to many shoemakers and store¬ 
keepers who keep shoes on sale, that they fradu- 
lently claim to make, and keep, and sell the 
McComber boots and shoes and lasts. The pre¬ 
tense is entirely unfounded, but it shows the 
esteem in which the intelligent public are known 
to hold the goods made by me. No stronger 
testimony to the superiority of my boots and 
shoes can be given than the fact that multitudes 
of dealers dishonestly claim to supply them. Not 
one of the individuals who advertise to make 
and sell the McComber patent last has the right 
to do so. It is all a sham, a pretense, and a 
fraud, but it shows that these shrewd shop¬ 
keepers understand its value, and the high 
esteem in which it is held by the best classes. 
-- 

RIVETED SHOES. 

In these hard times, when economy is a duty, 
and, with many, a necessity, it is proper for arti¬ 
sans in all departments to provide at moderate 
cost, the articles in daily use. With this thought 
uppermost, I have devised a system, and am now 





6 

making a class of boots and shoes, by attaching 
the soles with brass rivets, by which the cost is 
materially lessened, without lessening the wear¬ 
ing qualities. The goods that I construct on 
this plan are furnished at about half the cost. 
They are in no sense slop-work, and must not be 
compared with machine-made goods, being pro¬ 
duced entirely by hand. They are valuable and 
inexpensive substitutes for my liand-sewed boots 
and shoes, when worn by active boys and girls, 
who are particularly “ hard on shoe-leather,” as 
well as for farmers, mechanics, servants, and 
laborers, who seek comfort, cheapness, elegance, 
and durability. 

In making my low-priced shoes, as well as my 
more expensive hand-made sewed ones, I supply 
special lasts to fit the feet in each case, without 
extra cost. I do not now sell lasts, because I can 
not trust even the best shoemakers to make on my 
lasts. I have tried in vain to educate the igno¬ 
rant shoemakers of the country up to some 
knowledge of my improved system. I give it up, 
and decide that they must stick to their old 
monstrous last, and continue to crucify humanity 
in the barbarous old way. 

For normal, undistorted feet, especially those 
of boys, misses, and children, I shall endeavor to 
keep on hand a stock of low-priced boots and 
shoes, so that such customers can usually be 
perfectly fitted without delay. 


McCOMBEE’S KID. 


For over a year past I have been using a new 
and valuable article of manufacture, which I 
designate McComber’s Kid. It is prepared by 
processes of my own, from the skin of the kid or 
young goat of a species found in the mountain 
regions of Switzerland. The strength, flexibility, 
and tenacity of the skin are not only not lessened, 
as is the case in the usual system of tanning the 
article called French kid, but are greatly increased 
by the methods employed. 

The skin is subjected to a vegetable infusion, 
in contact with which it undergoes prolonged 
manipulation, by which the soluble gelatinous 
and albuminous constituents of the skin are ren¬ 
dered insoluble, imperishable, and indestructible; 
while at the same time the peculiar stiff and un¬ 
yielding character common to the kid skins used 
in shoes is entirely overcome. In finishing the 
skins, the same care is exercised, not only for the 
conservation of their natural integrity, but for 
the increase of their ductility, and power of re¬ 
sistance to strain. 

The chief effort of the -tanner of French kid is 
to impart a bright gloss to his product. He se¬ 
cures this glaze by the use of heat and pressure, 



8 

just as the laundryman imparts a polish to linen. 
But the heat used by the leather-finisher is de¬ 
structive of the integrity of the skin, and so 
greatly weakens it, that it readily cracks or 
breaks on being subjected to wear. 

Little care is taken, ordinarily, to see that the 
coloring and dressing solutions or dyes, which are- 
used to transform the outer surface of the skin 
into the densest black, have no destructive influ¬ 
ence upon its texture and strength. 

The dyes usually applied have an acid reaction, 
and are used hot, thereby weakening the skin. 

French tanners use alum (sulphate of alumina) 
universally. The sulphuric acid or oil of vitroil 
of this mineral has the power to entirely destroy 
the integrity and strength of all animal fibers. If 
is not strange that French kids turn blue and 
crack and break and peel and become rough after 
slight wear, since the seeds of destruction are 
sown in every skin in the processes fof manufac¬ 
ture. 

In my kid the dye is a vegetable astringent in¬ 
fusion, which constringes and toughens instead 
of burning and weakening the animal fiber. 

It is plain that animal fibers are certain to be 
weakened by exposure to caustic chemicals, or a 
baking temperature, and that excessive friction, 
by stretching and rubbing, will lessen the wearing 
capacity of kid or other skins. 

In the French kid-tanning processes heretofore 
made use of, the leading thought seems to have 
been to complete the work as quickly as possible. 


9 

and to produce the most shiny leather, regardless 
of its durable qualities. 

My effort has been to produce a eloth-like, flex¬ 
ible skin, having the characteristic softness of 
very fine doeskin cloth, as well as the most perfect 
qualities of quiet elegance and durability. 

I have not sought to impart a tawdry shine at 
the expense of all qualities of excellence. The 
gloss given in finishing the McComber Kid is 
quiet, elegant, and durable. It does not soil or 
fade or become dim. It is not induced by de¬ 
structive chemicals, by heat, or by friction. I 
say it is worse than folly to scorch and ruin the 
naturally tenacious grain or cuticle of the skim 
by the destructive processes and applications 
which have been in use for a century or two, and 
which originated in a darker age, when the natu¬ 
ral tensile strength of animal fibers was little un¬ 
derstood, and when the destructive power of vari¬ 
ous chemical agents used in tanning, dyeing, 
dressing, etc., was comparatively a sealed book to 
the world. 

There is still another point of superiority con¬ 
nected with my kid, the importance of which will 
be readily appreciated. The flesh side of the 
skin is not shaved, split, or dressed down to se¬ 
cure the desired uniformity of thickness. The 
skins are left of the thickness afforded by nature, 
some being naturally much thicker than others; 
and no loss of strength by loss of substance is 
permitted. 

The ordinary method is to shave down the 
inner side of the large, thick skin of an older 


10 


) 


animal, thus making it appear like the unsplit 
product of the young kid. 

This shaving greatly lessens the durability and 
wearing power of the skin, because the toughness 
and capacity of resistance to strain, depends not 
a little upon the integrity of every portion of the 
structure, the interior tegumentary fibers not less 
than the denser exterior or grain. While 1 am 
able to produce the lightest and most delicate 
boots and shoes from my kid, I do not secure 
lightness by artificial means. I depend upon the 
youth and delicacy of the animal whose skin is 
selected. There are coarse and fine varieties of 
animals of the same species, and the skins differ 
as essentially as do any other features or character¬ 
istics. If the skin of a young kid is coarse and 
loose-fibered, I reject it. If a delicate, yet very 
strong article is desired, I use the skin of a finely- 
organized young goat or kid, but I never seek to 
imitate the softness and pliability inherent in the 
skin of the finest infant goat, by the common prac¬ 
tice of splitting and weakening. 

By assorting the skins, I am able to supply boots 
and shoes of any grade without resorting to the 
weakening methods of splitting or shaving. 

It is safe to say that in finishing kid skins in 
the common way, more than half the -strength is 
always taken away. A skin is a unit, and not a 
series of parts to be segregated without injury to 
the structure. Its entire fibers are perfectly in¬ 
terlaced, and to shave from either surface is to 
greatly lessen the durability of the skin, The 


V 


11 

exterior of the skin is called the cuticle , the inter¬ 
ior the cutis . Both are of like importance, not 
only for the strength of the skin, but for other 
equally important considerations. There is in all 
animal skins a nutritive oleaginous substance, 
which is held in place by this interior fibrous 
structure, the cutis. With this cutis removed 
the skin speedily dries up, and becomes hard and 
horny, and no longer capable of sustaining the 
strain and wear and tear of ordinary usage, be¬ 
ing sure to crack. The difference between the 
McComber kid and the kid commonly used is 
exactly the same as between the best kid 
gloves and the cheaper kinds. The best young 
kid skins are cut into the best gloves without 
shaving or splitting. The poorer and older 
skins are shaved down, and used in cheap goods. 
Ladies know well that these shaved or split 
gloves tear readily, and speedily become lifeless 
and worthless. They may be heavier, but they 
are at the same time coarser and more loose and 
spongy. 

I have been driven to devise new and better 
systems by the weakness and ready destructibility 
of all French kids. I know from experience, and 
thousands can testify that the McComber Kid 
w T ill prove three times as durable as any hereto¬ 
fore used. While this kid is very flexible and 
pleasant to the foot, it does not stretch out of 
shape nor lose its symmetry after long wear. If 
my patrons will reflect upon the suggestions here 


made, I believe they will agree with me that 
skins treated as described must be more lasting 
and useful than skins which have been weakened 
by corrosive agents and destructive processes. It 
is not hard to believe that this new kid will 
greatly outwear any other, and will be more com¬ 
fortable and elegant while it lasts. 

Ladies who have once tested the McComber 
Kid are certain to order it again, and to discard 
all other varieties. I do not, however, insist that 
this superior article be used ; I keep on hand all 
kinds of kid skins, and make up such as are 
decided upon. It is gratifying to feel, however, 
that more than nineteen out of twenty select the 
McComber Kid. So far as temporary profit is 
concerned, it is by no means for my interest to 
advise the use of the McComber Kid, as it costs 
me from 15 to 50 per cent, more than the best 
French Kid manufactured. I however consider 
my interest the interest of my patrons, and am 
happy to recommend such methods and materials 
as shall increase the durability, and thereby 
lessen the cost, of the clotbiag for the feet which 
I provide. 


THE MeCOMBER 

PATENT BOOTS AND SHOES 

AND 

PATENT LASTS. 


Believing that you wish full particulars concern¬ 
ing my Patent Boots, Shoes and Lasts, I desire to 
inform you that I have written and published a 
small volume of seventy-six pages, worth fifty cents, 
which sets forth at length the nature of this great 
improvement. This book I have been in the habit 
of mailing without charge to all applicants. That 
the distribution of many thousand copies of this 
work has been productive of great good I have 
abundant proof. It is undoubtedly true, however, 
that very many persons have asked for this book 
who have neither perused it attentively nor placed 
it in the hands of any person capable of appreciat¬ 
ing the importance of the reform which is so fully 
illustrated in its pages. The book is too costly 
and too valuable to be wasted. I therefore send 
you this memorandum of its contents, in order that 
you may be able to determine whether your inter¬ 
est in the subject of which it treats is sufficient to 
induce you to peruse it further. If you decide in 
the affirmative, and are willing to read the book 
from beginning to end, you have but to inform me 
of that fact, and I will present you with a copy, 
and send it to you at my own cost. If you do not 
desire to pursue your investigation of the subject 
beyond the hasty glance afforded by this note, the 




14 


I 


copy of my book which would be wasted upon you 
will serve to educate some intelligent sufferer up 
to a knowledge of the only means of relief for one 
of the direst ills which afflict humanity. 

That the subject of which I treat will prove to 
be one of interest to you I cannot doubt. Clearly 
and unmistakably, it is one cf enormous import¬ 
ance to every civilized being. Everybody prefers 
handsome feet, while not one in ten thousand pos¬ 
sesses them. Everybody seeks comfort in foot¬ 
clothing, while not one in ten thousand enjoys it. 
It is because comfort and elegance are entirely 
compatible that I engage in this work. Upon the 
perfect union of beauty and ease—which is secured 
by my system, and by no other under the sun—is 
my great success based. 

That you may form some idea of the character 
of my book, and be able to determine in advance 
whether you will pledge yourself to study its con¬ 
tents, I will briefly explain its methods: The 
“ introduction,” or preface, to my book occupies 
over four pages, and is devoted mainly to an ex¬ 
planation of my business system. It announces 
my removal from Union Square to my large store 
and manufactory, No. 5 '2 East Tenth Street, and 
alludes to the advantages which I now enjoy for 
carrying on my large business under my immediate 
supervision in every department. It speaks of the 
quality of my work, and of the excellence of all 
materials used in my establishment. It is followed 
by three pages of carefully-written instructions for 
outlining and measuring feet, and the preparations 
of diagrams to be sent to me by mail, and from 
which, if accurate, I am able to construct my 
Patent Boots and Shoes and Patent Lasts in such 


15 


a manner as to ensure satisfaction and comfort. 
These instructions are simple, and readily compre¬ 
hended. When understood, they can be followed 
by any intelligent person. Upon the care with 
which these directions are carried out will depend 
the perfection of the fit. Following the instructions, 
is a complete price-list of all conceivable styles of 
my Patent Boots and Shoes, in all the materials 
which I deem it proper to employ, and for all sizes 
of feet, from those of the tiny infant to those of 
adults, and for both sexes. In this extended list, 
which includes over eighty items, all purses and 
tastes are pretty certain to be met. 

The list spoken of is followed by an address 
which I delivered before the Polytechnic Branch 
of the American Institute, on the evening of May 
20th, 1875, at the Cooper Union, New York, by 
the request of the President of that organization. 
The lecture is entitled, “ The Human Foot: Its 
Use, Abuse and Preservation.” It is copiously 
illustrated with drawings and diagrams of natural 
and distorted feet, as well as of my Patent Lasts, 
from various points of view, and occupies thirty-two 
pages of the book. This paper discusses the old- 
time errors of the shoemaking fraternity, their 
utter ignorance of the delicately-organized human 
foot and its needs, and explains, in detail, a scien¬ 
tific method of remedying the fearful errors of past 
ages in this direction. It is illustrated with fifteen 
wood engravings, representing feet in a state of 
nature, and feet distorted by the use of boots and 
shoes as ordinarily constructed, and giving views of 
my Patent Lasts and Shoes made upon them. No 
one can carefully peruse these pages without acquir¬ 
ing much useful knowledge of the subject discussed, 


nor without becoming fully convinced that by the 
adoption of a true system, based upon a knowledge 
of the anatomy of the human foot, that organ can 
be as delicately clothed, without enforced distor¬ 
tion, or injury, or suffering, as any portion of the 
body. The whole subject is made plain to the 
comprehension of all. 

The next chapter of the book is entitled, “ A 
Subject for Reflection.” It is an earnest appeal to 
parents and all having the care of children to save 
them from that lifetime of deformity and misery 
which is the common lot of all human beings who 
are shod by the old unscientific method. It is im¬ 
possible for me to urge too strongly the importance 
of a consideration of the thoughts contained in this 
portion of my work. I am strongly of the opinion 
that no subject is of greater importance than this, 
involving, as it does, the comfort, the health, the 
happiness, and, to a greater degree than is gener¬ 
ally supposed, the mental and moral well-being of 
the rising generation. These points I consider at 
some length; and I am at a loss to see how 
fathers or mothers who read my words can fail to 
discover that they have an important duty to per¬ 
form in this particular. 

The discussion of this, perhaps the most im¬ 
portant division of my subject—the infinite mental, 
moral and physical misery which is entailed upon 
the race through the viciousness of the clothing 
provided for the tender feet of children—is fol¬ 
lowed by a chapter descriptive of the True Purpose 
of the McComber Last and Shoe. In this portion 
of my book I seek to dissipate the idea that I am 
capable of performing miracles in the way of restor¬ 
ing distorted, diseased and broken-down feet.' I 


17 


try to assert very plainly, that I cannot take a foot 
which has been racked and twisted in tender infancy 
and youth out of all symmetry and beauty, and 
restore it at once to elegance and comfort by the 
magic of my art. I say, distinctly, that I cannot speak 
into being, new and perfect feet in place of those 
distorted and diseased by long abuse and maltreat¬ 
ment. There is no power to instantly remedy 
all the evil effects of long-continued violation of 
nature’s simplest laws. I claim no such wonderful 
power; but I can and do deprive the corn-doctor 
of his business and his stipend. I can and do give 
ease where misery has long existed. 

But my work does ncit end when comfort is 
achieved. My leading thought in providing cloth¬ 
ing for the universally-injured feet of adults is to 
gradually remedy, by appropriate means, existing 
errors and distortions, and thus to convert ugliness 
into beauty. The uniform, unavoidable result of 
clothing the foot for a considerable period by the 
ignorant plan in common use, is to make that mem¬ 
ber—so beautiful and useful when uninjured by 
misguided and vicious artifice—a horrid, mis¬ 
shapen, unsightly mass, the seat of deformity and 
disease, and often of little use in long-continued 
locomotion. This deformity is universal. The 
local misery may be severe or unappreciable, 
according to temperament, to the natural powers 
of resistance possessed by the tissues, and to the 
readiness with which the feet permit themselves to 
be crowded, wrenched and drawn into unnatural 
postures without complaint. Upon the tissues of 
some persons the wrenching processes may go on 
for years hardly noticed, so small is the suscepti¬ 
bility to pain. Pressure, ignorantly applied, often 


18 


blunts the sense of suffering by arresting circula¬ 
tion and depriving the nerves of sensibility. To 
overcome this semi-paralysis of the sensor and 
motor nerves, and to restore them to vital action 
and to a consciousness of wrongs inflicted, is the 
province of my art. But, while comfort is secured, 
the aesthetic taste must also be gratified, the love 
of the beautiful must be encouraged. The poor, 
deformed, distorted feet must be gradually restored 
to symmetry and beauty. In most cases this is by 
no means an impossible task. It is, as I have re¬ 
marked, not the work of a day or an hour; but it 
can be done. Ladies who pride themselves upon 
the small size of their feet have characterized the 
power to sustain the broken and flattened arches, 
to hold together the spreading and sprawling 
phalanges, as the most marvellous attainment of 
my art. They wonder how it is that they can 
wear smaller shoes than ever before, and, at the 
same time, suffer no pain or discomfort. The ex¬ 
planation is easy. It has its answer in a single 
sentence, viz.: A knowledge of the anatomy of 
the foot. With me, the knowledge which I bring 
to bear on this subject is the knowledge of a life¬ 
time. I have dissected the human foot, and know 
precisely where to apply pressure and where to 
withhold it. I have carefully studied its anatomy 
and its pathology. I know how to preserve it in 
all its original beauty, and how to apply such 
remedial measures as will restore it, sooner or 
later, when disfigured and distorted. Restoration 
is not, , as I have said, the work of a moment; but 
there are few cases in which it is not possible, and 
not one in which the contour, comfort and useful¬ 
ness of the foot may not be speedily and greatly 


19 


improved. Sensible people, therefore, who would 
unite in their foot-clothing the essentials which 
they naturally seek in garments for other portions 
of the body—viz., grace and ease and freedom of 
motion, great durability, elegance of design and 
perfection of fit, together with a daily and gradual 
improvement in the size and contour of the foot— 
will pursue their investigation of the subject with 
the earnestness which its importance merits. They 
will soon learn that anatomical knowledge is com¬ 
petent to determine precisely what pressure the 
foot should receive and at what points it may use¬ 
fully be applied, in order to secure symmetrical 
and graceful results, instead of that growth in 
ugliness and distortion which is certain to result 
from pressure misapplied. It is a satisfaction to 
be able to state, that no attribute of my system is 
more highly lauded, from day to day, than is its 
power to beautify distorted feet and to lessen 
their ugliness. 

So far as that pestilent creature—the corn-doctor 
—is concerned, I am doing my best to drive him 
from the face of the earth. He is as pitiful an 
excrescence upon society as are those which he 
pretends to remove. Under a proper system of 
foot-clothing, corns would be as uncommon upon 
the feet as they are now upon the elbows. A 
system so potent for evil as is that practiced by the 
shoemaker of the past and present would be driven 
from human sight by all the force of the State 
were it not for the power of the chiropodist to 
lessen the misery of the race, not by remedial 
measures, but by destroying sensibility to pain. 
Those corn-parers are deadly enemies of humanity, 
because they make the abominable boots and shoes 


20 


which ignorant men sell for reasonable foot-gear, al¬ 
most endurable. They attempt to suspend the ever¬ 
lasting law of God, which declares that guilt brings 
punishment, that injustice entails woe and suffering. 
They do their best to lull to sleep heart and con¬ 
science, and to permit the terrible work of distor¬ 
tion and destruction to go on unchecked. They 
are the natural outgrowth of a wicked, false, per¬ 
verted system—a system which can never be wholly 
uprooted until these wretched aiders and abettors 
are driven from the earth. When the day dawns 
upon which corn-doctors and corn-plasters are 
annihilated, and the poor, distorted, ruined feet, 
upon which the nations hobble painfully down the 
century, are allowed to suffer as they should, in 
order that the ignorant authors of their woes shall 
not be forgotten, relief will be near, because an 
outraged public, fully conscious of its ill-treatment, 
will not be long in visiting appropriate punish¬ 
ment upon the wretched shoemakers who scatter 
pain and ruin on every side. 

Readers of my book will find the deceptions 
practiced by the shoemakers of the period barely 
hinted at. Since medical men, teachers, professors 
in medical colleges and public lecturers, have come 
to understand, through my public utterances, that 
the old system of barbarous foot-clothing, which 
touches no foot of child or adult which it does not 
torture, cripple and distort, is one of the most 
potent agencies for evil now extant, and that I 
have devised the only remedy, a host of unprin¬ 
cipled dealers in the wicked old shoes which have 
crippled so many generations, are asserting that 
they use the McComber Patent Last and supply 
the McComber Patent Boots and Shoes. Let me 


21 


say, with emphasis, that I cannot vouch for the 
honesty or the skill of this class of pretenders. 
There is no size or style of boot or shoe, for child 
or youth or adult, that I do not make, at prices 
as low as perfect articles can be supplied. There 
is, there can be, no possible economy in employing 
any of these dishonest and incompetent imitators, 
who piratically assume to employ my Patent Last, 
while existing in utter ignorance of its principles 
or its application to important and critical cases. 
There is but one sensible way, and that is to apply 
at headquarters, and to ignore the mushroom 
pretenders who periodically start up on every 
hand, the density of whose ignorance is so com¬ 
plete that they even fail to discover the miracu¬ 
lous burden of unenlightenment under which they 
stagger to and fro before the world. 

If my book fails to make clear the fact that it 
costs nothing to consult me, to secure a critical 
examination of the feet, accompanied with advice 
as to their care, I desire to re-affirm it here. 
Crippled feet, club feet, distorted feet, and lame 
feet come to me daily for examination and advice, 
and all receive my best attention. The lame, the 
halt, the moderately deformed and the wretchedly 
crippled, not less than the strong and well-propor¬ 
tioned, are privileged to call and secure my advice, 
without money and without price. 

Let me add that I have striven in my book to 
show the importance of preserving in its original 
beauty and symmetry the natural, unimpaired foot* 
If I have explained the possibility of restoring the 
maltreated and deformed, I have even more ear¬ 
nestly endeavored to impress upon all whose feet 
are as yet in fair condition, the vast advantage 


22 


which is certain to accrue from their preservation 
from all distorting and destroying agencies. To 
perfectly accomplish this, the preservative in¬ 
fluences must commence in early life with the first 
pair of shoes—the first pair of stockings, in fact— 
which encase the tender feet. I seek to impress 
upon all thoughtful persons this great thought: 
that no remedial measures can be considered as at 
all approximating in value those preventive acts 
which my system so perfectly provides. 

My little book concludes with many unsolicited 
testimonials from physicians and others who have 
worn boots and shoes made by me on my Patent 
Lasts, and who, one and all, testify to their beauty 
and their excellent qualities. These persons, many 
of whom are well known in public, professional and 
business life, append their names and their addresses, 
and would, no doubt, express more fully the satis¬ 
faction which they feel in being properly shod, if 
called upon. 

I have thus given you a brief synopsis of the 
contents of my book. From this, I think, you will 
be able to determine whether the book will interest 
you—whether, in short, you are willing to pledge 
yourself to read it through from beginning to end, 
provided I send it to you at my own expense. If 
you cannot promise this, do not put me to the 
very considerable expense. If you are willing to 
so far pursue this important subject as to carefully 
read the book, and will notify me to that effect by 
mail, I will forward it without delay. 

JOEL McCOMBER, 

52 East Tenth Street, near Broadway, 
New York City. 


From, George E. Randolph, General Agent 
Coal Mines. 

Central City, Colorado, Jan. 23, 1877. 

Joel McComber, Esq., New York.— Dear Sir: Both 
pairs of Shoes sent to me are very satisfactory. I am en¬ 
joying what I have not for years—that is, a well-fitting, 
perfectly comfortable shoe. My wife, Mrs. J. 0. Ray- 
nolds, Mr. Harrington and Mr. Campbell are as well 
pleased as I am, and asked me to say so to you. 

It is remarkable that all these Shoes should be so 
thoroughly satisfactory, inasmuch as we all took our 
own measures. 

You may rely upon it that we shall want no other 
Shoes than yours. Yours respectfully, 

• G. E. Randolph. 


From the Rev. Dr. Stevenson, Editor of the Illus¬ 
trated Christian Weekly of New York. 

We usually let our advertising patrons tell their own 
story, and we do not even endorse what they say of 
their wares—that is a matter between them and our 
readers. But in the case of Joel McComber’s Shoes 
we cannot but speak. We have tried them and know 
them to be the ne plus ultra in their line. McComber 
is a philosopher, a scientist, an anatomist, an expert in 
the shoe line. Let him measure, and gauge, and study 
your foot, and if he does not give you a new idea of a 
comfortable and serviceable shoe, then—well, just try 
him. 


From Ex-Governor Bulloch, of Mass. 

Worcester, Mass., July 2d, 1877. 

1 have taken of Mr. Joel McComber’s manufac¬ 
ture many pairs of boots for myself and for mem¬ 
bers of my family, and I have found the same to give 
great satisfaction for durability, for the comfort of the 
wearer, and for best proofs of first-class workmanship 
in every particular. I give him the preference over 
all whose work I have ever tried. 

Alex. H. Bullock. 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

From Prof. R. S. Newi 

Med 

Mr. Joel McComber 
mist—rare and hitherto 1 

dissected and studied Lh 0 018 449 290 8 

precisely what each bone... 

and how surely ignorant shoemakers deform and crip¬ 
ple the delicate structure. 

He long ago convinced me that corns and distortions 
are no more necessary to the feet than to the hands. 
The McComber Patent Boots made by him are in every 
respect worthy to be called The only Perfect Cloth¬ 
ing for the Feet. Robert S. Newton, M.D. 

[From Scribner's Monthly.'] 

New York, June 22, 1878. 

Mr. Joel McComber— Dear Sir: You are the last 
man that I shall undertake to praise ; for the product 
of your lasts is above all praise. I scarcely ever knew 
what it was to have my feet in perfect comfort until 
you made my snoes; and since then, I have scarcely 
known a moment of discomfort in those useful mem¬ 
bers of the body, and besides all that, the effect upon 
the health of having one’s feet neither too hot nor too 
cold; neither throbbing with pain, nor numbed with 
cramp, as they are sure to be with ill-fitting shoes, is 
very great. I am satisfied that many headaches, and 
not a few heartaches, come from abuses of the feet. 1 
cannot understand how anybody could possibly com¬ 
mit suicide with a pair of your shoes on his feet, for a 
man has a new respect for himself when he walks erect 
and with ease upon Mother Earth. I wish everybody 
knew and appreciated the excellence of your work, as 
all the members of mj' family do; and if this note will 
help you in the least to bring customers to your shop, 
you are at liberty to use it. Yours truly, 

Rosswell Smith. 

P*8.—I advise everybody at least to take the trouble 
to send for, and read your pamphlet. 

LETTER FROM REY. DR. TWING. 

22 Bible House, New York, Sept. 12, 1878. 

Joel McComber, Esq., 52 East 10th Street. New York 
— Dear Sir: For a period of more than three years I 
have depended wholly on you for my boots and shoes, 
and I have no hesitation in saying that I have never ex¬ 
perienced so much satisfaction in the use of those of 
any other maker as in that of yours. I have found 
real comfort in wearing them, and have found them far 
more euduring than any before worn by me. 

A. T. Twing. 


















